FrankTanganika
Opinion
Petero Karasanyi (not real name) is an
octogenarian widower without land or home of his own nor children to
take care of him. On his return from many years of exile in a
neighboring country two years ago, he was a guest to his elder sister in
Gatsibo District.
When the sister passed on there was neither
land nor house to inherit from the only relative. Petero’s condition
became more difficult because the supply of food and other commodities
the sister received from her children have dwindled.
There are
many people like Petero in our society who need government’s attention.
Petero’s condition was put into societal perspective, late last year,
in a Rwanda Television programme ‘Ishusho Nyayo’ that hosted Mr Justin
Gatsinzi, a senior official in the Ministry of Local Government, and
Theogene Nkuranga, the
Executive Secretary of the National Youth
Council who presented an informative picture of the national programmer
aimed at empowering Rwandans to improve standards of living. The Vision
2020 Umurenge Programme (VUP) and its components like Ubudehe were
portrayed as viable strategies that provide beneficiaries with fishing
rods rather than the proverbial fish.
While I appreciate
Gatsinzi’s contention that the programmes benefit all the categories of
poor, the aged poor are not catered for adequately. My view is that
senior citizens above the age of 70 should be paid the proposed social
pensions. It is my contention that if every district administration
inserted the elderly in their budgets, it would not affect delivery of
other essential services.
Although I don’t have statistics to
back my argument, Rwandans in that aged bracket who are not
beneficiaries of other pension schemes are few and will be fewer in the
future as people get more sensitized about the various pension schemes
now available.
While Rwf 7,000 sounds little to some of us, it
would make a difference to a beneficiary who has no other form of
income. Consider an old person who is a dependent, and a resident of
Bwera in Rwimiyaga Sector of Nyagatare District who needs to travel to
Bugaragara Health Centre.
It is a rural area without public
service transport. The money will facilitate his travel to go for
healthcare by taxi motor bike without which it would be impossible to
access medical care.
Secondly, we can draw from Gatsinzi’s
example of a beneficiary of a monthly income of Rwf7000 who was able to
invest in a profitable venture and later became a poultry and dairy
farmer. This illustrates the point that the social pensions for people
would reduce dependency and give hope and dignity to the old poor, for
as Banyarwanda say, ‘Ubusabusa buruta ubusa buriburi’.
Vulnerable
groups like orphans and widows have benefited from advocacy,
consequently there are projects run by government and civil society that
educate, provide them with medical care, and empower them to get
involved in gainful activities.
Don’t the old also need advocacy given that socio-cultural structure of the family unit that cared for the weak is being eroded?
The
Ministry of Local Government has a number of programmes that cater for
the vulnerable. The needy that include the older have been facilitated
to access decent housing, but more could be done for the aged poor, if
an exhaustive policy is developed.
The activities and practices
help Age International, an international NGO, could provide a framework
for such a policy. The NGO helps older people claim their rights,
challenge discrimination and overcome poverty, so that they can lead
dignified, secure, active and health lives.
Help age works
through networking with like-minded organizations to lobby governments
to have policies and through practical projects on issues that affect
older people notably climate change, rights, health, social protection,
work and HIV/Aids.
Whereas the government has built houses and
paid medical insurance for the poor older people, I propose that the
department in charge of social affairs, in addition to ensuring that
social pensions are regularly paid to older people, initiate a project
that helps them to overcome poverty and to network with agencies that
have experience in the area.
For Rwanda, the type of pension
known as Means-Tested Pensions, where only the poor receive the pension
would be the best option. The fairest criteria for determining the
beneficiaries should only be levels of income. Where social pensions
have been implemented in poor countries, it has been reported that they
are neither complicated nor costly.
Erratum
In this
column, last week, there was a mix-up of names. Instead of saying “Both
Umuseso and Umusingi newspapers owned by Kabonero and Gatsimbazi
respectively, we mistakenly wrote,
“Both Musekeweya and Umuvugizi
newspapers owned by Kabonero and Gatsimbazi respectively”. We regret
the error and apologize to all concerned.
ftanganika@yahoo.com
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